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Seeing Neon

The Olympics’ Most Colorful New Trend: Kinesio Tape

08.09.12 5:57 PM ET

If you watched beach volleyball this week, you probably wondered: what’s with all the neon war paint? Turns out it is Kinesio tape, a stretchy cotton tape designed by a Japanese chiropractor to support injured muscles. But unlike hard tape, its site says, Kinesio is designed to mimic a “texture and elasticity very close to living human tissue.” But according to NPR, an independent review determined that there is actually little evidence that Kinesio actually helps sports injuries. Whether or not it’s proven to work, it certainly brightens up the playing field. [NPR]